Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

06 October 2003

TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS

• In an interview given to the Financial Times, Oct. 5, the Dutch prime minister said that the Netherlands will use its growing influence on the international stage to forge closer ties between Europe and the United States after the deep divisions that were caused by the U.S.-led war on Iraq. The paper noted that the appointment of Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as NATO secretary-general and the six-month presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2004, would reinforce the Dutch claims. Prime Minister Balkenende added that the fact that Dutch support for the war in Iraq had been cautiously expressed meant that the Netherlands had remained “on speaking terms” with the French and the Germans. “That (broad support) gives us the opportunity to build bridges if necessary,” he added.

EU

• The Financial Times reports that France has proposed that the EU creates its own paramilitary “gendarme” force to help create stability after military peacekeeping missions. The French defence minister spelt out the idea during an informal meeting of EU defence ministers in Rome at the weekend. Javier Solana, the EU’s foreign policy chief, has welcomed the idea as well as several countries that maintain special paramilitary forces. Le Monde, Oct. 4, cited a French source saying that this force could include from 900 to 1,000 men and it could intervene on the request of the EU, European countries for a specific mission, or even for NATO, according to this source.

AFGHANISTAN

• The Reuters news agency and AFP reported that NATO had agreed today a limited expansion of its peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan for the first time beyond the Kabul area to the provinces. According to diplomats, the agreement backed the German deployment to the northern region of Kunduz, once the UN Security Council approves an expanded mandate for ISAF. Germany is expected to submit a resolution soon.
  
  
• Hamid Karzai, the interim Afghan leader who announced his candidacy for president last Wednesday, is facing an open political revolt by powerful rivals in his fragile government, according to the Washington Post. Leaders of the Northern Alliance held an unusual meeting during Karzai’s absence last week. Several spokesmen were quoted saying that the group had decided not to support Karzai’s run for the presidency and to field its own candidate instead. A publisher of a weekly magazine that represents Northern Alliance views, Hafiz Mansour, said that “it was too early to say the results about the meeting, but what was clear is that from now on, Karzai will be isolated.”
  
  
• The New York Times, Oct 4, noted that the United States has accepted an offer by Serbia and Montenegro to send up to 1,000 combat troops and police officers to Afghanistan, according to senior Serbian officials and foreign diplomats in Belgrade. Boris Tadic, the defense minster, said that “Liberia, Iraq and Afghanistan were discussed as possible destinations for Serbian troops” but “Afghanistan was more likely the potential destination.” The Daily Telegraph, Oct 6, wrote that a deployment of Serbian troops to join American forces in Afghanistan will certainly spark fury across the Muslim world. The prospect of veterans of combats against Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo fighting in a Muslim country, under American command, against al-Qaeda and the Taliban is an unexpected offer from Belgrade that has been accepted, reports the newspaper. The Serbian troops would be deployed near Kandahar and are expected ready for deployment by March 2004.
  
  
• The Washington Times noted that the Afghan national army gained a new battalion, boosting the force to 6,000 men, raising hopes that government troops will one day control the whole country. It was the first time in decades, remarks the newspaper, that Afghan instructors, rather than foreigners, trained an entire battalion. The Afghan Defence Ministry said that it will open three recruiting centers across the country by the end of October.

IRAQ

• The White House has ordered a major reorganization of American efforts to quell violence in Iraq and Afghanistan and also to speed the reconstruction of both countries, the New York Times wrote. According to senior administration officials, an “Iraq Stabilization Group” has been created, which will be run by the national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice. According to those officials, the creation of the Group grew out of the frustration of the setbacks in Iraq and the absence of more visible progress in Afghanistan. The newspaper remarks that it is the closest sign of an admission that the plans for reconstruction in those countries are insufficient, and that it was unprepared for the guerrilla-style attacks in Iraq. The national security adviser, Ms. Rice, described the new organization as one intended to support the Pentagon, not supplant it.
  
  
• USA Today reported the creation of a battalion of Iraqi soldiers to become the first unit of a revived army. Iraq’s American administrator, Paul Bremer, said that this will be the core “of an army that will defend its country and not oppress it.” The commander of the battalion was quoted saying that Iraq needs an army of at least 120,000 men within three years.

WAR ON TERRORISM

• On Sunday, Ibrahim Rugova, the president of the semi-autonomous province of Kosovo, said that he was eager to send several hundred police officers to help – anywhere they were needed, the New York Times reported. A U.S State Department official said that Mr. Rugova received a reply form the assistant secretary of state for European affairs, Elizabeth Jones, saying that the best thing he could do to contribute to the campaign against terrorism was to build a stable democratic Kosovo.

RUSSIA

• The Pravda quoted the Russian Defence Minister Ivanov saying that Russia may ask the OSCE to put off the deadline for the withdrawal of its military property from Transdniestria. Russia must finish withdrawing its military assets from its largest base in Europe before the end of 2003. He added that fulfilment of their intentions was hampered by Tiraspol, the capital of Transdniestra, in every way and that observers of the OSCE were witnesses of this.